What I can’t quite comprehend is just what all of the extra weight I’ve been carrying around looks like on its own. If I could suddenly just take off the extra weight the way a soldier takes off a fully loaded backpack, what kind of burden would I be shedding? After all, we’re talking about 2 times the recommended weight gain for a healthy expectant mother. I’ve been thinking about this for the past few days, and I did some quick research to get a better idea of what 60 extra pounds looks like. After seeing this, I’m more determined than ever to get rid of the extra weight. All of the items below are the equivalent of my 60 pound weight loss goal.

A full grown Afghan Hound.

Five 12 pound bowling balls.

7.2 gallons of water.

Fifteen 64 ounce tubs of lard.

46 large thin crust pizzas.

60 pints of beer.

240 sticks of butter.

523 Krispy Kreme donuts.

1440 strips of bacon.

Five months may seem like a long time to lose 25 pounds, but I’m finding the slow and steady approach is far more effective for me. In the past I’ve been able to lose as much as 4 or 5 pounds a week in short bursts, but I’ve never been able to stick with a program like that for very long. I’ve also found that the weight tends to come back as quickly as it comes off. I’ve been losing about a pound a week steadily since September, and I feel confident that the lifestyle changes I’m making are something that I can stick with for the long haul.

One of the frustrating things about weight loss is that the pounds don’t come off in a linear progression. I weigh myself first thing every morning, and some days I seem to be taking giant steps backwards. A lot depends on fluid retention from one day to the next, or what I ate at what time the night before. The important thing to remember is that the long-term trend line is moving downward. If I had the discipline to only weigh myself once a week I could see that more clearly.

Another reason that my progress seems slow is that I am building substantial muscle mass at the same time I’m burning fat. Even though I’ve taken nearly 4 inches off my waist so far, my chest, shoulders, arms and legs are all substantially larger than when I started. Given my age and sorry physical condition, I would not have believed it was possible to achieve the results I’ve seen so far. I will be in far better shape at 48 than I was at 28.

It’s hard to go for a day without hearing some reference to the number of obese and overweight people in the U.S. population. While there is no question that there are way too many fat people among us, I’m beginning to doubt the numbers. The statistics are based on Body Mass Index, which is a simple formula that divides a person’s weight by the square of their height. It does not take muscle mass or bone density into consideration, so it produces misleading results for anyone with above average muscle development. At my current height and weight, I am still considered borderline obese based on BMI alone, and even when I reach my target weight of 175, I will still be considered overweight. Neither of these results paints an accurate picture of my true physical condition. Body fat percentage is a far more reliable indicator.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of my improved physical condition is the change in my personality. I’ve always been an introvert, and I still prefer to spend the majority of my time alone. I’m finding that as my body changes, so too does my ability to tolerate social situations. Maybe I’m less self-conscious, or perhaps the exercise has activated some long dormant sociability hormone. I know I will never be a social butterfly, but if I stick with the program at least I will be slightly less reclusive.

How sad is it to realize that you can actually buy individually wrapped, frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crusts already cut off? I’m sure the kids can really taste the love when you send them off to school with one of those, along with a bag of partially hydrogenated chips, a twin pack of Little Debbie snack cakes, and a juice box filled with high fructose corn syrup. Don’t we have a moral obligation as parents to take better care of our kids? Is it any wonder that childhood obesity is on the rise?

Having a 4 year old and a heart attack victim in the house makes meal planning a real challenge. We’re also trying very hard to stress the importance of family meal times, and we’ve recently begun to insist that Robert eats the same things we do on most evenings. It’s not always easy, but he’s starting to enjoy a much wider variety of foods. He was very skeptical when I cooked a rack of lamb last week, but he ended up cleaning his plate and asking for more. He did insist on ketchup, but that was a concession I was willing to make. This is the same kid who once put ketchup on cantaloupe.

Compared to the average American home, our pantry and freezer are remarkably free of junk food. We never buy chips or sodas, and there are no frozen pizzas or sugar coated cereals. The closest thing to pure crap you will ever find are fish sticks, but Robert eats those less often now that he is developing a more sophisticated palate. Yes, I do consider lamb with ketchup to be fairly sophisticated, at least in terms of the average 4 year old.

We try our best to feed our child well at home, but the situation at HoneyTree is another story altogether. Even though they claim to have a full-time nutritionist on staff, the menu choices are appalling. Robert’s favorite school lunch is corndog nuggets, and we can always get him excited about getting ready in the morning on nugget day. As a former professional cook, I can fully appreciate the challenges involved in feeding several hundred young children daily, but for eight grand a year you would think they could do better than corndog nuggets.

Traveling with kids is another huge challenge. The offerings available at most fast food joints are even worse than the daily fare at HoneyTree. In spite of this, I’m proud to say that my kid may be the only child in America who has never eaten a Happy Meal. There is one healthy fast food choice available that we discovered by accident. Arby’s actually offers some great choices for kids, including a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, and they even cut the crust off. Instead of fries, they offer a cup of fresh fruit as a side. The portion sizes are generous enough that Jennifer usually orders from the kid’s menu as well. As an added bonus, their toys are even better than the movie themed junk from the Big Three.

As Robert gets older, I’m sure it will be harder to control his diet and help him resist the temptations of junk food. After struggling with my weight for most of my life, I’m determined to get him started on a healthier path. As I’ve discovered on my own personal fitness quest, it’s easier to stay healthy when you’re young than to get healthy when you’re old.

I realized that I needed to do something about my weight, but I always tend to procrastinate when it comes to unpleasant personal matters. Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after tomorrow. A few days later, I was tickling my three year old son and I commented on how skinny he was. He laughed and said, “I want to be fat like you, Daddy”.

Those words were exactly the call to action that I needed. I’ve always struggled with my weight, but my son inspired me to take decisive measures to change my lifestyle. I started on a diet and exercise program that day, and I’ve managed to stick with it for nearly seven months so far. Unlike the crash diets that I’ve used in the past to shed lots of weight quickly, this feels different. I’m not losing weight as fast, but I’m confident that I can keep it off for good this time. I’m also building substantial muscle mass, and the shape of my body has changed dramatically. I’ve taken off about 30 pounds, and I’ve got about 30 more to go.

The two biggest lifestyle adjustments I’ve had to make are setting aside time for my daily exercise routine, and learning to eat all over again. As a professional cooking instructor, I had spent years teaching people to prepare decadent foods with little concern for their nutritional value or caloric content. I’m now in the process of teaching myself how to cook healthier dishes that still satisfy my desire for intense flavor.

For all of you cooks out there who are also trying to live a healthier lifestyle, here is the best advice I can give you. Forget about trying to make low fat imitations of your favorite dishes. It’s just not possible to make a fat free Alfredo sauce, and no matter what you do the results will always be disappointing. Concentrate instead on new recipes that are naturally lean and don’t rely on ingredient substitutions. You can still enjoy your favorite foods on occasion if you learn to moderate your eating habits.

Several years ago when I was preparing to open Foodies, the Atkins Diet was all the rage. Well meaning people would suggest almost daily that I could make a killing offering low-carb cooking classes. When I replied that I didn’t intend to offer any, they were usually stunned. At the time, nearly 10% of American adults were on some form of low-carb diet.

I’ve always been highly skeptical of fad diets, and of the diet industry in general. To me, the Atkins concept seemed even more absurd than most of the others that came before it. Among those who fell for the hype, however, it seemed like counting carbs was the only topic available for polite conversation. Those of us who weren’t on the diet got pretty sick of hearing about it from those who were. I for one was happy to see the low-carb fad fade into memory, like so many mood rings and pet rocks before it.

Fad diets have never been the answer to maintaining a healthy weight. There are plenty of diets out there that can help you lose weight, but none are effective at keeping it off. They simply require more self-discipline than most folks can muster over the long haul. They also ignore the fact that human beings evolved as omnivores, and our bodies require nutrients from a wide variety of food sources. We are no better equipped to live entirely on protein and fat than we are to live on a diet of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

The key to maintaining a healthy weight is moderation. You are far better off to eat a variety of foods you enjoy in reasonable quantities than to try and eliminate entire food groups from your diet. It’s okay to cook with butter, and to eat full flavored dishes, as long as you learn to moderate your portion sizes. It’s not about eliminating carbs or fat from your diet. It’s about skipping the second trip to the buffet, and saying no to the Super-Size fries. If you ever wonder where fat people go at lunchtime, check out the all you can eat Chinese buffets.

I’ve always hated the holier than thou skinny folks who find it so easy to talk down to people who are overweight. In a way, I’m even worse. I’m one of those overweight folks myself, and I’m sick to death of hearing the excuses my fellow fat people make for being fat. While a tiny minority of overweight people may have legitimate medical conditions that contribute to their problem, the rest of us have no excuse at all. It’s not about our genes, it’s not about our glands, and it’s not about those pesky stress hormones we hear so much about on TV. We’re fat for one simple reason: We consume more calories than we burn. If you want to lose weight, eat less, put down the remote, and get your fat ass off the couch.

In October, I realized that I was once again approaching the upper limit of that range. I was also counting the days until my 47th birthday. These factors were both weighing heavily on my mind the day my 3 year old son told me I was fat. I don’t think he realizes yet the negative connotations associated with being fat, but hearing those words from him was a call to action. I started walking the next day, and I’ve averaged about 5 miles per day since then.

I’ve never really been a physically active person, and the work I’ve done has always been sedentary in nature. There have only been a couple of times in my life that I’ve ever been in truly fit condition. Basic training in the Army was probably the most concentrated period of intense physical activity in my lifetime, but I was actually very disappointed that the regimen was not more demanding. During my two year enlistment period, I stayed closer to my ideal weight than at any other time.

I lived in the Washington, DC area during my early 30’s, and took advantage of the tremendous network of bike paths and trails that connect the entire region. For about 2 ½ years, I rode an average of 200 miles per week. I finally had to quit when I developed carpal tunnel syndrome and my hands became almost completely numb. It took several months after I quit riding for the sensation to return.

I’ve never been involved in organized sports, because frankly, I don’t have an athletic bone in my body. I took up golf about 8 years ago, and it is one of the few sports that I do truly enjoy. I spend a lot more time on the practice range than the typical recreational golfer, but the improvements I’ve seen over the years are more the result of stubborn determination than natural ability. Unfortunately, buzzing around in a golf cart doesn’t provide much in the way of exercise.

I started my daily walking routine in early October, and in January my wife and I decided to join the Roanoke Athletic Club. I’ve never done any sort of strength training until now, and all I can say is I wish I had started 30 years ago. The effects of middle-age have definitely taken a toll on my body, but I am surprised at how quickly I have responded to the exercise program. The progress I’ve seen is far more dramatic than I expected in a matter of a few weeks.

I have a regimen of 16 exercises using a variety of Life Fitness, Nautilus, and Freemotion machines. I spend about an hour a day on my workout, rotating between two sets of 8 exercises each day. I could barely walk after the first couple of days, but the initial pain has given way to something completely unexpected: I’m actually starting to enjoy the workouts. Since early January, I’ve only missed one day.

When I started walking in October, my primary goal was weight loss. I’ve avoided any sort of strict diet regimen, but I have made a conscious effort to eliminate certain foods and to reduce my portion sizes. These are the kind of changes that are far more likely to result in long-term success than yo-yo dieting. The weight doesn’t come off as quickly, but it is much more likely to stay off once it is gone.

I know I’ve lost some weight since October, but I don’t know exactly how much. My son broke my old scale a few weeks ago, and the new one tells me I’ve actually gained 13 pounds. I know this isn’t true based on the way my clothes fit, but I don’t have a reliable baseline figure to gauge my progress. At this point, I am more interested in the way I look and feel than what the numbers on the scale tell me.

Men tend to suffer a number indignities as they approach middle-age. Some are a result of reduced physical activity, while others are entirely beyond our control. No amount of exercise will give me back my hair or restore my failing eyesight. My beard will still be grey, and my eyebrows are stating to remind me of Andy Rooney. I can’t stop these effects of time, but I have seen unexpected improvements in other areas. My posture is already better, and my lower back pains have vanished. I still suffer from chronic insomnia, but even that seems to be less severe.

Even though my weight loss has been modest so far, the surprising thing is how quickly my body shape is changing. I’ve taken a couple of inches off my waist, and most of my extra chins have already vanished. I’ve added far more muscle mass than I would have thought possible in a matter of six weeks, and I’m already seeing significant definition in my arms and legs. I still have plenty of extra padding around my mid-section, but even that is firming up rapidly. Thankfully, I never developed the most dreaded affliction of the overweight male. I may be fat, but at least my son didn’t have to ask why I had man-bosoms.